OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- A woman left her toddler behind at a hospital during a squabble involving her boyfriend, police said.

Christine Murei, 32, went to Overland Park Regional Medical Center to see the man she claimed was the father of her daughter, and when he refused to see her, the woman left her 16-month-old behind, according to authorities.

Hospital staff took care of the girl and called police.

Police talked to the woman's boyfriend, who gave them her name and address.

Police found Murei at her Overland Park apartment and took her into custody.

Prosecutors charged her with a misdemeanor, and authorities said she would have to undergo a mental evaluation before she'd be allowed to leave jail.

The toddler was in protective custody while officials investigated.

A neighbor of the woman, Estuardo Garcia, said it was difficult for him to believe that she would leave her daughter.

"The times I have seen her with the baby, nothing has looked strange or peculiar and she looked just like a normal mom with her baby," Garcia said.

Kansas has a safe haven law that allows mothers of newborns to drop them off at hospitals, police departments or fire departments without facing criminal charges, but police said that law didn't apply to the case, in part because the girl was not a newborn.